"If the government, at the hands of one of its ministers, has promoted an investigation into the conflict of interest within the government, it is right that I ask the Antitrust Authority to extend the investigation to all institutions, with the same criteria. Not in retaliation, but out of respect for the institutions whose decisions I have deferred to. And that you act as guarantor of the integrity of the government regarding possible incompatibilities, if I am not allowed to speak and promote art and my ideas in any way".
The resigning undersecretary Vittorio Sgarbi wrote this in a letter to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, reported by Corriere della Sera.
"I don't agree with the resolution of the Agcm, I will appeal to the TAR - writes Sgarbi -. But the resolution is clear: I cannot live the life I have led for fifty years, I cannot be the same and be an undersecretary. The Antitrust does not he said 'This or that activity in Sgarbi's life is not good', but his 'entire activity as a writer, narrator, curator and art historian' (and with this also promoting and selling his own books, as you also did) : that is, it is my life. It is, as one immediately understands by reading the forced motivation, a decision that is both 'politically correct' and legally incorrect. In fact, no true jurist understands the reason for holding a conference on Caravaggio, participating in or chairing a round table on Tintoretto, presenting a book on Michelangelo could constitute a violation of the limits of the law, generating an incompatibility with the ministerial function, to the point of distorting its meaning".
"In any case - he concludes -, I feel the need to thank you for your behavior towards me, always respectful, linear and never yielding towards the many fierce opponents who have launched a real journalistic and television persecution (with state TV!), hoping , with me, to intimidate you and the government you preside over".
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